Tour leader Joseph Furmanski, UPMC’s technical project director, discussed the medical center’s history and the importance of information technology within the healthcare industry, said Steven Wainwright, a senior Business Technology Support and Training major. The students also had a “crash course” in data center infrastructure, he said.

“We learn all that information in classes, but it gave me a different perspective to see it put to use,” he said.

The ECOBIT students in attendance were Aaron Corso, a junior Management Information Systems major; Nweaze Onyemaobim, a junior MIS and Management major; Michael Walters, a junior MIS major; Wainwright; and Justin Vrana, a senior Business Technology Support and Training major.

“UPMC is an $8-billion integrated global health enterprise headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and one of the leading nonprofit health systems in the United States,” according to UPMC’s website.